German Market Report

Germany's  broadcast market is the largest in Europe, with some 37 million TV households, and highly competitive. The many regional and national public broadcasters, organised in line with the federal political structure, vie for audiences with powerful commercial operators. Each of the country's 16 regions regulates its own private and public broadcasting and operates public TV and radio services.

The report also looks at the competitive cable market in neighbouring Austria.

Around 90% of German households have cable or satellite TV, and viewers enjoy a comprehensive mix of more than 30 free-to-air (FTA) public and commercial channels. This has hindered the development of pay-TV services.

In a new report in the Broadband TV News Briefing Series, Robert Briel assesses the market and analyses its prospects.

• Understand the organisation of Germany’s cable network
• Assess the prospects for pay-TV against powerful commercial operators
• Appreciate the reasons why quality programming failed to deliver for Premiere
• Evaluate the strong position of the public broadcasters
• Examine the possibilities for IPTV networks
• Analyse the role of new ‘satellite-to-cable’ platforms
• Appraise the potential of the new technologies that broadcasters believe will be major game changers in German broadcasting
• Understand the influence of Germany’s regulators on the broadcasting sector

Published January 2009